Preset measuring intervals or auto count

@markez

Will you use this on a bench or do you need to lug it around by hand ?

U will need to roll it on thr ground 

Like a measuring wheel with a handle

On a smooth surface

As I couldn't visualize exactly what this thing looked like I was unable to respond.  Your last two posts makes me think of the ball in a mechanical computer mouse tracking device.

@markez 

Sounds like a small wheel on a stick with an encoder on the wheel near the axle to count ticks as the wheel rotates. Have a reset button on the handle to re-zero the counter and then calculate distance by the number of flashes through the encoder as the wheel rotates with rotation(in radians) times wheel diameter.

You could put an LCD on the handle to display target and current distance with a keypad to let you enter the distance. Put a battery pack on the handle and your solenoid.

So, a wooden frame and handle, small diameter wheel (sized relative to distance being measured), an axle, encoder disk, light source and sensor, battery pack (probably a rechargeable power bank if your solenoid isn't too beefy, a 1602 or 2004 LCD, Arduino, pushbutton to reset distance, keypad to enter distance, solenoid, wire and some incidentals.

Hi Kyle @markez,

   Sounds like you are describing a surveyor's wheel or trundle wheel .. e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveyor%27s_wheel

@will has made an a valient attempt at mentioning some parts that might play a part.

But I am unclear as to what question you are asking? Perhaps a more specific question regarding a problem you have would prompt a corresponding answer?

Best wishes.

Thank you 

I just started  taking a interest in this type of thing on this forum  about 2month ago so am about 1% to yall 100% of knowledge in this field. 

With that being said there was a product made by calculated  industries it was called (Digiroller plus 2) measuring wheel.  It had a feature called (Auto count) . You could set predetermined  measurements  and everytime that preset measurement rolled around  a beep would go off. Example: preset 9ft 0in every time 9ft was rolled it would beep so 9ft. Beep 18ft. Beep 27ft. Beep and so on.They no longer have this feature. How can I take a normal  digital measuring wheel  and ad the auto count to it. Or does anyone know where I can get the auto count feature. Is there a company that make what I am needing. 

Thank u  hope someone out there can help 

@markez 

I think it would be difficult to retrofit this functionality onto an existing product because you'd have to hack into their software to access the current measurement. That might ruin the original operation and leave you with a broken product that doesn't even do its original work.

If all you need is a beep at multiples of a pre-determined distance (and no area nor volume  calculations), then you could make your own far cheaper than buying one. That could change if you need to incorporate other more complex functionality or features.

Hi @markez,

 Sorry, I know nothing about the commercial products, beyond a quick Google search. "Obvious" points from this were:

• Need to specify accuracy/resolution. Simple approach only resolves to 1 wheel revolution (or maybe say half or third. of a revolution), whilst more precise systems use gears, etc. + rotary encoder which can resolve to small fractions of a revolution. The latter appear to be considerably more expensive.
• Particularly for the simple type, the circumference needs to be related to the measurement system. I'm in the UK, where metric is dominant, so many products had a wheel circumference of 1 metre, corresponding to a diameter of about 32 cm. I guess in the US, the equivalent models would have a circumference of 1 yard (3 feet). The more sophisticated models may be able to switch between imperial and metric.
• Your budget and workload. Cheaper models are probably meant for 'occasional' use and 'approximate' measurements. They may be less robust, etc, than the more expensive models.

If you are looking for a simple, low cost, device with a resolution of say a third, half or whole wheel circumference, then I guess you could consider buying a simple wheel device, and then adding sensors which can count the revolutions. For the US, you might look for one with a 1 yard circumference wheel.

A simple approach might be similar to that used in some simple bicycle systems ... attach a magnet to the wheel, such that it passes close to a reed switch or hall-effect switch attached to the frame. Then the pulses can be counted by a simple computer system, including options to beep every (say) 3 pulses.

To improve the resolution, more than 1 magnet could be attached. e.g. 3 magnets on a 1 yard circumference wheel would give 1 pulse per foot.

Could this approach meet your requirements?

Thank u Will for helping

I just need the  (Auto count) preset measurements that make a beep at recurring intervals.  I don't need it to do anything else. Just need the beep at preset measurements. 

I'll  explain i do parking lot striping we do new parking lot requiring layouts.  I got tired of using a 300ft measuring tape and bending over every 9ft by the time u do top and bottom u bend over 70+ times. So when calculated industries come out with digiroller plus 2 it had that preset and beep feature. So I took a sound activated board with a relay sodered the 2 wire to where the beep  was coming from on the digiroller. Connection to the  9v board attached a12volt battery  to a put and pull seloniod.  Attached  Special stamping pad  and started layout my parking lot.The beep would tell the board to tell the seloniod to fire. But they no long make the wheel with the auto count anymore.

@markez 

So, if I understand correctly, you used to use the beep signal to activate the marker, but the beep is no longer available because the new rollers don't beep at multiples of the preset distance.

Would you consider moving over the battery, solenoid and stamping pad to the roller as before, but triggering the solenoid with a button on the handle ? You could then trigger the solenoid using the button (like a trigger) manually as you watch the roller's measured distance pass each multiple of 9'.

I know it's not automatic and you'd need to watch the measurement screen, but you could still do the matching at a fair walking pace and never have to bend over (until the marking pad needs refilling or replacement). 

It might work if you can't find (or build) a better device.

Hi @markez,

  So, looking at your latest information, maybe you could modify a 'simple' wheel device as I suggested with  a magnet and reed switch, plus a small microcontroller ... Arduino or similar.. add on a relay driver on the output. If you get one with a wheel of 3 feet/ 1 yard circumference, which I presume will be easier in the US than Europe, and some simple code so that the relay only fires on every third pulse.

In practice, you may want to add some tweaks, e.g. a tiny bit of code to make sure each reed switch only sees one closure per revolution (protect against switch bounce), but overall it could be a simple system.

@davee budget is not a problem  you idea sounds great. But that is going to require some coding correct . Coding is like a foreign language. Do u know a company or person that would be willing to but this thing together for me. Offers I will pay whatever they need

Hi @markez,

  Sorry, yes there is a small amount of coding, but living in UK, I am not in the right location to assist directly with supply and design of a physical unit. Others on the forum may be better placed to help you there.

However, if you don't mind a little project, maybe there is enough information around for you do it yourself. The program in this case should be pretty small and essentially a 'mix and match' of bits you can find with a bit of determined Googling.

Coding is essentially like a recipe ... it is a list of instructions that tells the processor how to achieve something. Admittedly you have to be careful to get everything spelt correctly, with all the right punctuation, but the software provides a kind of 'spelling and grammar checker' which will point out many possible errors.

Of course, this will take a while to get to used, and you may not have that time.

If you are tempted to have a look at doing it yourself, check out some of the Arduino demos. For a start, Bill has done a video on controlling an incandescent lamp from an Arduino, with a push button control that has a lot in common with my suggestion.

Look at https://forum.dronebotworkshop.com/2019/mosfets-and-transistors-with-arduino-2/#post-16100

The whole video is full of good stuff, but to get a quick idea of what your construction entails, including the coding, you might want to skip directly to

16:23 minutes  - Transistor Switching Demo

Compare this video with my suggestion for your requirement:

• imagine the push button switch in the video is actually the reed switch attached to the frame of the wheel, such that it closes once per revolution.
• imagine the lamp is the relay you use to perform your stamping operation

Now you could 'start' your development by simply copying Bill's circuit and code, with the modified wheel.

You will need an extra diode across your relay coil, unless it has one already included. (Bill mentions why a little later in the next video when he discusses motors!) And the 6V battery and actual transistor type may need 'adjusting' to match your relay requirements.

Then, assuming your wheel had a circumference of 3 feet, it should 'work', except that it will stamp at three foot intervals.

You need the relay to fire after the wheel has been rotated 3 times, so you need a few extra lines of code, which essentially count each time the switch closes, 1, 2, 3. Then when the count is 3, turn on the relay (lamp) for a short period (maybe 100 milliseconds instead of 5000 milliseconds for Bill's light),  set the counter back to 0, and start the process again.

This bit is actually harder to describe than code ... and I am sure if you can get the rest of the project working, then there are a number on this forum (myself included) that could help you with that.

In reality, most of the work is finding a wheel of the right circumference, attaching magnet, relay switch and 'control box' containing battery, on/off switches, arduino or similar, etc.

For the coding you will need a PC. The software is all of the 'download for free' type.

So, have a look at Bill's video and see what you think.